Charlize Theron: Prometheus and Snow White star's top 5 movie roles

Following her return to the big screen with acerbic comedy Young Adult, Charlize Theron is continuing her anti-heroic winning streak with a pair of villainous roles in both this week's big releases.

She's facing off with Michael Fassbender as antagonistic suit Meredith Vickers in Ridley Scott's Prometheus, and with Kristen Stewart as Snow White and the Huntsman's Evil Queen.

From her astonishing breakout in Monster through to her caustic lead in Young Adult, Digital Spy takes a look back at Theron's five best movie roles below...

Monster (2003)Although she'd racked up a few significant roles prior – most notably Mighty Joe Young (1998) and The Cider House Rules (1999) – Theron's gutsy breakout came with the role of real-life prostitute-turned-serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Her ferociously compelling turn attracted raves from critics (Roger Ebert dubbed it one of the greatest in cinema history) and won her an Oscar, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe.

North Country (2005)Dodging the bullet of the post-Oscar curse, Theron followed up one lauded performance with another, playing a Minnesota miner who filed the first successful sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States. Although some critics criticized the film's convoluted plotting and emotionally manipulative courtroom portions, Theron was universally praised for her grounded and sensitive portrayal.

Hancock (2007)After her first less-than-successful stab at a superhero franchise with Aeon Flux, Theron found better fortune with Peter Berg's semi-satirical tale of a vigilante (Will Smith) whose reckless and costly "heroism" has made him hated by everyone in New York. Theron's role, initially set up as a run-of-the-mill damsel in distress, turned out to be interesting enough to tempt her back for the upcoming sequel.

The Road (2009)John Hillcoat's unrelenting adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak apocalyptic novel retains its source material's scant cast list, but expanded Theron's role as the doomed wife of Viggo Mortensen's hero. Via a series of flashbacks, scribe Nick Cave gives Theron the room to hauntingly portray a woman who, having given birth just after the film's unspecified apocalyptic event, gradually loses the will to live.

Young Adult (2011)After a hiatus of more than two years, Theron returned to screens with a blistering performance scripted by notoriously smart-mouthed Juno writer Diablo Cody. Playing the eponymous Mavis, a self-obsessed divorcee who returns to her hometown in a bid to ensnare her now-married high school boyfriend, Theron fearlessly creates a disturbed and disturbing character who is frequently despicable, yet never unsympathetic.

Should The Cider House Rules, Aeon Flux or In The Valley Of Elah have been in the list? Leave your comments in the space below.